Fitzgerald departs Malden Catholic for national team

His father was a veteran of 17 NHL seasons and works in the
league, and his older brother graced the cover of this publication last
month after being drafted in the fourth round by the Bruins.

Because of Tom and Ryan, Casey
Fitzgerald’s name is known as soon as he steps into the rink.
But he says there is no pressure to live up to others’
expectations. Rather, they are his aces in the hole.
“It’s great,” Casey said. “I’ve got a
leg up on everybody else. My father and brother show me the ropes.
It’s definitely a plus having both of them.”

The United States Under-17 team
expects having North Reading, Mass., native Casey Fitzgerald on the
roster will be a plus. After two Super 8 championship seasons at
Malden Catholic High School, the ’97-born Boston
College-committed defenseman was one of the early commitments to
the National Team Development Program.

Fitzgerald said it was tough to
tell his team and coaches at MC he was leaving, but said they
understood that this was his dream. His brother had played at MC
and his father was a standout at Austin Prep. High school hockey
often takes a beating, but the Fitzgeralds have been committed to
staying local.

“You can play anywhere you
want and if you’re good enough, they’ll find
you,” Fitzgerald said. “MC was the best choice for me.
The coaches gave me everything. Such great guys and a phenomenal
school, it’s my home away from home.”

He left for Ann Arbor, Mich., on
Aug. 26 as part of a trio of friends and high-end Massachusetts
talents, joining defenseman Noah Hanifin (Norwood, Mass.) and
forward Colin White (Hanover, Mass.). They played together in the
Junior Warriors program and have been close ever since.

Tom Fitzgerald credited that
time with the Warriors with really developing Casey’s game.
“He was playing with good players,” Tom said. “It
was a high level. The expectations were huge. As second-year Pee
Wees and second-year Bantams, they went to the national
championships. (Coach) Steve McAdams was a great influence on how
to play defense.”

Casey will be joined on the
Under-17’s by his cousin, Matthew Tkachuk of St. Louis, son
of Tom’s cousin, Keith, the Medford, Mass., native and former
NHL star.

The familiar faces will help the
transition, but from going to the USA Hockey summer camps over the
years, Fitzgerald said he knows almost the whole team.

As he was preparing to leave and
join his billet family, there was one thing he was still working
out. “I’m practicing doing my laundry now,” he
said.

Ryan, two years older, was
probably just starting his laundry practice as well as he prepares
to start his freshman season at Boson College. Ryan played at MC
for three years before staying local and playing for the Valley
Junior Warriors last year. He had decided against going to the
NTDP.

“He saw Ryan go through
the process and decided (the NTDP) is what I want to do, to compete
with the best and train like a pro,” said Tom, now the
Pittsburgh Penguins’ assistant to the general manager.
“He’s a student of the game and knows who has been
through that program.”

Among others, this spring
defenseman Seth Jones was selected fourth overall in the NHL draft
by Nashville and is expected to be in the Predators lineup on
opening night. Fitzgerald will play on the Under-17’s with
Jones’ brother, Caleb.

“I really wanted to play
for the U.S. team,” Casey said. “The U.S. was my number
one. It was the best choice for myself as a player. Different kids
need different development and the U.S. team was my best
choice.”

Now 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds,
Fitzgerald said one of his main goals in Michigan is to get bigger
and stronger. Having posted six goals and 23 points in 25 games for
MC last year as a sophomore, Fitzgerald has offensive skills, but
he said it’s breaking up the play and starting the puck up
ice that he likes most about playing defense, a departure from the
forward positions in his bloodlines.

“I wanted to play
forward,” Fitzgerald said. “I was 8 or 9 with the
Islanders and my dad got me to try playing defense, and it worked
for me and I stuck with it.”

He will play against 19- and
20-year-olds in the USHL this season and against college teams next
season to prepare for joining his brother for the 2015-16 season at
BC, where his bloodlines run even deeper.

“I saw the campus with my
brother and loved it from the start,” Fitzgerald said.
“I loved the atmosphere, loved the coaches — Jerry York
is great — and the record speaks for itself. It was an easy
choice for myself watching my brother and cousins (Jimmy and Kevin)
Hayes going there.”

Around juniors

The QMJHL’S Moncton
Wildcats signed defenseman Tucker White (Holden, Mass.) and left
wing Willy Smith (East Longmeadow, Mass.) The 6-foot-5, 215-pound
White had played at Wachusett High School. Smith was a
UMass-Amherst commit from the Springfield Pics and was
Moncton’s sixth-round pick this year. The Sherbrooke Phoenix
also grabbed a pair of forwards from the Selects Academy at South
Kent in Chase Harwell (Southbury, Conn.), who was committed to
Quinnipiac, and Mitchell Lundholm (Plymouth, Mass.). Salisbury
goalie Callum Booth joined the Quebec Remparts. Booth is a Montreal
native. ...

Forwards William D’Orsi
(Sudbury, Mass.) and Lincoln Griffin (Walpole, Mass.) won the Five
Nations Tournament in Slovakia with the U.S. Under-17 Select Team.
D’Orsi had three goals and three assists and Griffin a goal
and two assists as the team went 4-0. Pat Boller (Danbury, Conn.)
served as assistant coach. …

Forward Joey Dudek (Auburn,
N.H.) went 1-2-3 as the Under-18 Selects took second at the Ivan
Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Bob Corkum (Salisbury, Mass.) was the
head coach. …

Adam Erne (New Haven, Conn.) led
the New England contingent at the U.S. National Junior Team
Evaluation camp with three points on a goal and two assists. BU
sophomores Dan O’Regan (Needham, Mass.) and Matt Grzelcyk
(Charlestown, Mass.) and BC freshman Ian McCoshen each had two
points.

Pictured: Casey
Fitzgerald posted six goals and 23 points in 25 games for Malden
Catholic last year as a sophomore. (Dave Arnold/New England Hockey
Journal)